


Double Helix

by Fionas Apple (dawnmarie)



Category: The Thing (1982)
Genre: Angst, Body Horror, Canonical Character Death, Fan fic sequel, Gen, Horror
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-01-14
Updated: 2013-06-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 10:28:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,098
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/637934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dawnmarie/pseuds/Fionas%20Apple
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kate is able to convince the Russians of what happened at the Norwegian base and is able to rescue MacReady in the nick of time. What will happen though when an unexpected visitor arrives at Vostok #12?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Safe & Warm?

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel to both the 1982 and 2012 films. Since I highly doubt another movie will ever be made, I decided to do my own humble version of just what may have happened next.
> 
> WIP.
> 
> Rated Mature for adult themes and later on, some violence and naughty words.

Antarctica: Vostok Base—Day 1

He could hear the wind howl and could almost feel the thumping sounds it made as it smacked against the building. The sensation bothered him, and worse, it was waking him up. MacReady had been hoping with enough effort he could stay asleep permanently. It was his body that had other ideas. The light and the sound combined with a growling in his stomach made him slip back to reality with a thud.

_Am I at a hospital?_ Eyes half closed, he shifted his body weight carefully, only stopping his movements when he felt a pain lurch up his right side.

_Regulation cot. So I am not in a hospital. Where the hell am I?_

Taking a chance, he opened his eyes. He was in a small room nearly identical to the one he had played Chess Wizard in. A small woman was sitting next to him on his left.

_Maybe I am still dreaming_ ; since when did pretty women ever go up to Antarctica?

"Hell, how long was I out of it?" He sounded raspy, indifferent.

"About two days. You needed the sleep though. You have a few broken ribs, and you were suffering from hypothermia when we found you." She patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.  It was a small gesture for anyone else but for her it was a big deal. She had always been more comfortable with fossils. Being up close and personal with another human being was not something that she was overly fond of. She could have found herself getting close to Carter, but that was impossible now.

MacReady found the touch an odd contrast to the cold and methodical tone of her tone of voice. "You're a scientist." He said it casually, more of a statement of fact than an accusation.

"Paleontologist."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Same thing. So, you work here? How did you even know to look for me?"

"I am, was, a PhD candidate from Columbia University. One of my specialties is cold weather digs," she paused, started fidgeting with her hands, knowing that he wouldn't like what she was about to say. "I was brought over to the Norwegian camp to get something out of the ice."

MacReady quickly put two and two together. "So, you let the damn thing out." He shook his head side to side, signaling his displeasure. "How are you gonna live with that?"

She bit her lip, still trying her damndest to do nothing other than look stoic. "I didn't let it out," she said defensively. "In fact, I told my 'superior' that we should wait; that we needed sterile conditions to do proper experiments. He didn't listen and it ended up costing all of us."

MacReady regretted his attitude when he saw her chin tremble. He took her hand, unsure of himself. He was an introvert, a loner. He didn't go out of his way to make human contact with anyone and he liked it that way. "What took you guys so long though? That thing almost bit us all on the ass."

"The weather." She pulled her hand from his grasp and pointed towards the small window to the right of MacReady's cot for unneeded emphasis. "You know how bad it was. It took me three days to convince the Russians that I wasn't out of my gourd. Once we were able to get to what was left of Carter and—"

"Carter?"

"He was a pilot like you, worked at the Norwegian camp. It ended up being the two of us fighting the thing at the original crash site. I made it out, Carter didn't."

"You had to kill him," his voice softened to a whisper.

She nodded her head in the affirmative. "He was infected. I wasn't sure at first until I noticed that his earring was gone."

"Huh? What are you talking about?"

"It can't duplicate inanimate material," she opened her mouth giving him a good view of her teeth, when he gave her a nod she continued speaking. "If you have earrings or fillings it spits them out."

_So Childs was human after all_ , he thought to himself _._ MacReady was impressed with this girl. She was clever for coming up on the fly with a much easier and less painful test than what he had come up with.

"Anyways," she continued, "by the time we got to Carter and grabbed some samples—"

MacReady bolted up in bed, wishing that he hadn't, as he started to hiss at the unwanted exertion being placed on his body. Hands clenched tightly into fists, back arched forward and shoulders hunched over he did his best in staying composed. It wasn't easy, starbursts of pain clouded his eyes and a dry taste welled up in his mouth. His visitor hadn't been exaggerating about the broken ribs. "Samples?" He croaked out. "Destroy them. All of them."

"I did it myself. They are all gone. I only agreed to their temporary collection when the Russians told me that was their condition for letting me, and any survivors we found at #31 a place to stay."

That answer seemed to appease MacReady just enough that he let her help him lay back down on the cot and pull the covers back up over his chest. Either that or he had tired himself out getting up and just didn't have the energy to fight with her. She thought the latter was more likely, as his body started to relax, his breathing settling into a normal rhythm, sleep taking him again. She was tired herself, but couldn't sleep. She was alright only as long as she wasn't alone and didn't close her eyes. At least now she was with someone who understood what had happened to her and had survived it too. That was a gift that made her feel safe.

 


	2. Wide Awake and Dreaming

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A simple continuation of the first chapter.

She sat in the darkness for two, maybe three hours, just long enough for her eyes to start closing, despite all of her best intentions. It was MacReady's voice ringing out in the darkness that startled her back awake.

"So, you gotta name?" He sounded calm but inside he felt jumpy and could feel his nerves dancing beneath his skin. Idly, he debated asking her if she had any good booze nearby. He needed a drink badly.

"Kate Lloyd. You're at the Russian base—Vostok #12."

MacReady remembered Vostok #12 was a good two hour flight from the American camp. Garry had told him on the flight to Antarctica that while the American and Norwegian camps were interested in scientific discoveries, the Russians kept only a skeleton crew, whose sole job it was to keep tabs on what everyone else did.

Whether or not that was true, or if Garry had been smoking some of Palmers' stash MacReady really didn't know or care, but he found it interesting that the Russians had been kosher with Kate destroying the samples. Wouldn't they want the Thing as a weapon? The thought worried him but he remained calm. He couldn't afford to make waves until he was mobile. "So, what do we do now?"

"We wait until we can get out of here and head out to McMurdo." She smiled at him reassuringly. "We should be out of here in a day or two."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure."

"How's Childs?"

"Your friend? He didn't make it, I'm sorry."

"I don't remember much after we shared that bottle." He knew they hadn't had much of a chance out in the cold. They both knew the alcohol they shared would've only made things worse, but at that point, they had been past caring. "To be honest, I'd already made my peace with it. I was ready to die."

"MacReady?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you mind if I pull a cot next to you and try to get some sleep?" She knew it was forward of her and very school-girlish, but she needed sleep. The only way she was going to get it was if she stayed as close to MacReady as possible.

He ran his hands through his hair and sighed before making a slapping motion on the side of his cot. "Yeah, sure."

It didn't take Kate long to slide the other cot into the room next to his. She was careful not to bang it into MacReady's, but he still stifled a sound in his throat when she lay down.

"You elbowed me."

"Sorry."

Unasked, he started into his story, as if he were reliving it. "You would have thought this big guy was crazy. He was trying to shoot a dog, and screaming in Norwegian. Garry shot him." He felt like sharing, as much to get it off his chest as to run through it out loud so everything could start to make some sort of sense.

Kate's face froze in surprise, her mouth forming an o. "Lars? He didn't speak English. Lars is who this Garry person of yours killed." She had taken a short detour back to the Norwegian camp before heading toward the Russians, hoping to find Lars. She gave up after calling him several times. Still she had held out hope that maybe he'd made it to one of the other camps and was safe. Now that hope was gone.

"I take it you checked me out when you found me."

In the darkness Kate shrugged. "No, not at first."

"Really? I thought you called yourself a scientist."

"Paleontologist."

"Whatever."

"You were close to death when I found you. You were delirious and in and out of consciousness from the cold."

"If you were wrong, I could have killed you. That was a hell of a chance on your part."

"It was a chance worth taking." She found her reaction at the remains of the U.S. base odd. Her rational side could easily handle seeing an already dead body. What scared her was having to care for a man who was in the state MacReady had been in. "I was so desperate to save you that I jumped into the Bair Hugger with you on the way back. After you were stable enough, I washed you and got you into clean clothes."

His right eyebrow lurched up in a smirk. "Really?"

"Don't worry, I didn't see anything important." As soon as she said it she felt like the world's biggest idiot. _Great going Kate, insult your only ally here_ , she thought to herself.

Either MacReady didn't notice her attempt at a bad joke or he simply didn't care. Either way, his face registered no discernible emotion. Absentmindedly he touched his face and looked up at her.

"My beard. I never sleep walked as a kid so I doubt I shaved myself."

Kate let out a weak smile. "I did it. It's silly, but when I get sick, shaving my legs makes me feel better, so I figured it wouldn't hurt you."

"Thanks, I think. Just tell me, you didn't shave my legs too." MacReady laughed at the thought of that. His old army buddies would have never let him live that down.

Kate couldn't help but laugh along with him in the dark. Laughing was better than any of the pills she had been shoving down her throat in hopes of dulling her feelings. "I'm glad one of us still has a sense of humor."

"Hell, it wasn't that funny!" He poked her in the side teasingly, and motioned to her to turn off the lamp. "Get some sleep."


	3. And So It Begins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A teeny tiny mini chapter for the two or three of you that are reading this story. xd
> 
> Next chapter will be much longer, I promise!

**Antarctica: Vostok Base—Day 2**

The first thing MacReady noticed when he woke up, was that he was alone. Carefully he got up and started walking down the hallway, his feet making padding sounds across the tiled floor. The base was silent and that bothered him. Not knowing where Kate was bothered him even more. Suddenly, a high pitched screech echoed down the halls. Walking faster, he made a sharp left and ran right into Kate. 

“Mac! Get down and stay down. We’ve got a problem.” Kate tossed him a pistol. It was old and rusty but it was better than nothing. 

“No shit. I knew we couldn’t trust them. How many are infected?” 

She motioned towards the end of the hall with her axe. “Four. They are in the lab. I was able to trick them into there and lock the door on my way out, but it won’t hold for long.” 

“We’ve got to get out of here. Is there transport?” 

“Yeah, a jeep. We won’t get far though.” 

“Better than nothing. Let’s go.” 

"Right behind you.” 


End file.
